Groundbreaking amfAR Grantee Dr. Nancy Chang Honored

March 14, 2023

Dr. Nancy Chang in her lab in the 1980s. — Dr. Nancy Chang in her lab in the 1980s
(Photo by Don Klumpp)

Baylor College of Medicine recognized former amfAR grantee Nancy T. Chang, Ph.D., for her pioneering work as a biochemist and businessperson on February 27, when the institution’s Department of Medicine hosted its inaugural research symposium named in her honor.

After emigrating from Taiwan to the U.S. with her husband, fellow biochemist Tse Wen Chang, Dr. Chang earned an undergraduate degree from Brown and a doctorate in biological chemistry from Harvard University. Her post-doc work focused on interferon.

With funding from amfAR, Dr. Chang studied protease, an HIV enzyme essential for viral replication. Her research helped spur the development of protease inhibitors, a game-changing class of antiretrovirals. The first protease inhibitor (saquinavir) was approved by the FDA in 1995, and two others quickly followed.

At Centocor (later Janssen Biotech), Dr. Chang and her team were part of a consortium that sequenced the HIV genome structure. In addition, she made a significant contribution to the development of the first diagnostic assay to detect HIV infection.

Dr. Hashem El-Serag (left) giving Dr. Nancy Change (right) an award honoring her impact on the Department of Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine (Photo courtesy Baylor College of Medicine)

In 1986, she became an associate professor of virology at Baylor. That same year, the wife-husband team founded Tanox, a pharmaceutical company dedicated to the research and development of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies for the treatment of allergies, asthma, inflammation, and diseases affecting the immune system. In 2003, the FDA approved Xolair, the first biotech product indicated for allergy-related asthma. Tanox also developed anti-HIV drug TNX-355 (Trogarzo), a post-attachment inhibitor. In 2007, the couple sold the company to Genetech for nearly $1 billion.

Among numerous accolades, Dr. Chang received the Biotechnology Heritage Award in 2012 from the Chemical Heritage Foundation (now the Science History Institute) and the Biotechnology Innovation Organization. Baylor College of Medicine and Stanford University have both endowed chairs in her name.

“We hope this well-deserved honor will introduce Dr. Chang and her revolutionary research to a new generation,” said Kevin Robert Frost, amfAR’s CEO. “Her early work on protease is exactly the type of research amfAR funds today—innovative science with the potential to change the lives of people living with HIV/AIDS around the world.”